The leaders of various opposition parties, under the banner of the INDIA bloc, will meet in New Delhi today to discuss their blueprint for a joint campaign, seat sharing and strategy for the 2024 general elections. The meeting comes after the setback in the recent assembly polls, where the BJP emerged victorious in most states.
The opposition bloc, which comprises 27 parties, including the Congress, the TMC, the RJD, the JD(U), the Shiv Sena (UBT) and others, intends to move forward with the theme “Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)” at the meeting. The bloc’s prime ministerial candidate will be decided after the 2024 elections, according to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
The key challenge before the opposition leaders is to come up with an alternative common programme as a counter to the ruling dispensation
The bloc also aims to evolve a “core positive agenda” to highlight the people’s issues and take on the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The immediate task is to build a consensus on having a convener, a spokesperson and a common secretariat, as it is a tricky issue due to differences among the INDIA bloc constituents
The bloc also plans to finalise the seat-sharing arrangements in some states, such as Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where the Congress will ally with the Samajwadi Party and the DMK respectively
However, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Delhi continue to remain sticking points among the alliance partners, as none are ready to give in
The bloc also needs to redraw its strategy after the caste survey issue failed to click with the voters during the state polls.
The opposition parties, including the Congress, had gone all out to highlight the caste survey issue in the recent assembly polls, considered the semi-finals ahead of the general elections
With only a few months left for the 2024 elections and the assembly polls proving a dampener, there is little time for the opposition bloc to rediscover its election narrative to take on the BJP
It is the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc
It held its first meeting in Patna on June 23, the second one in Bengaluru on July 17-18 and the third in Mumbai between August 31 and September 1, where the bloc had adopted resolutions to unitedly contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections
